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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

The Girl on the Train

Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book

Humans of New York: Stories

Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny

The Wright Brothers

The Martian

Elections: General Council: last held in October 1988 (next to be held by March 1991); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (44 total) number of seats by party NA Regional Assembly: last held on 16 March 1986 (next to be held by March 1992); results - UDF/RPR coalition 49.8%, PPM/FSM/PCM coalition 41.3%, other 8.9%; seats - (41 total) PPM/FSM/PCM coalition 21, UDF/RPR coalition 20 French Senate: last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September 1992); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (2 total) UDF 1, PPM 1 French National Assembly: last held on 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (4 total) PPM 1, FSM 1, RPR 1, UDF 1Communists: 1,000 (est.)Other political or pressure groups: Proletarian Action Group (GAP); Alhed Marie-Jeanne Socialist Revolution Group (GRS); Martinique Independence Movement (MIM); Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (ARC); Central Union for Martinique Workers (CSTM), Marc Pulvar; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and PeasantsMember of: FZ, WCLDiplomatic representation: as an overseas department of France, Martiniquais interests are represented in the US by France

Overview: A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports. The decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In recent years, the droughts, the endemic conflict with Senegal, rising energy costs, and economic mismanagement have resulted in a substantial buildup of foreign debt. The government has begun the second stage of an economic reform program in consultation with the World Bank, the IMF, and major donor countries. But the reform process suffered a major setback following the Gulf war of early 1991. Because of Mauritania's support of Saddam Husayn, bilateral aid from its two top donors, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, was suspended, and multilateral aid was reduced.GDP: exchange rate conversion - $1.1 billion, per capita $535; real growth rate 3% (1991 est.)Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5% (1990 est.)Unemployment rate: 20% (1991 est.)Budget: revenues $280 million; expenditures $346 million, including capital expenditures of $61 million (1989 est.)Exports: $436 million (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: iron ore, processed fish, small amounts of gum arabic and gypsum; unrecorded but numerically significant cattle exports to Senegal partners: EC 43%, Japan 27%, USSR 11%, Ivory Coast 3%Imports: $389 million (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: foodstuffs, consumer goods, petroleum products, capital goods partners: EC 60%, Algeria 15%, China 6%, US 3%External debt: $1.9 billion (1990)Industrial production: growth rate 4.4% (1988 est.); accounts for almost 20% of GDPElectricity: 190,000 kW capacity; 135 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1991)Industries: fishing, fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsumAgriculture: accounts for 29% of GDP (including fishing); largely subsistence farming and nomadic cattle and sheep herding except in Senegal river valley; crops - dates, millet, sorghum, root crops; fish products number-one export; large food deficit in years of droughtEconomic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $168 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $490 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $277 million; Arab Development Bank (1991), $20 million

Long-form name: Territorial Collectivity of MayotteType: territorial collectivity of FranceCapital: MamoutzouAdministrative divisions: none (territorial collectivity of France)Independence: none (territorial collectivity of France)Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)Legal system: French lawNational holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)Executive branch: government commissionerLegislative branch: unicameral General Council (Conseil General)Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal Superieur d'Appel)Leaders: Chief of State: President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981) Head of Government: Commissioner, Representative of the French Government Jean-Paul COSTE (since NA 1991); President of the General Council Youssouf BAMANA (since NA 1976)Political parties and leaders: Mahoran Popular Movement (MPM), Younoussa BAMANA; Party for the Mahoran Democratic Rally (PRDM), Daroueche MAOULIDA; Mahoran Rally for the Republic (RMPR), Mansour KAMARDINE; Union of the Center (UDC)Suffrage: universal at age 18Elections: General Council: last held June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (17 total) MPM 9, RPR 6, other 2 French Senate: last held on 24 September 1989 (next to be held September 1992); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (1 total) MPM 1 French National Assembly: last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (1 total) UDC 1Member of: FZDiplomatic representation: as a territorial collectivity of France, Mahoran interests are represented in the US by FranceFlag: the flag of France is used

Highways: 42 km total; 18 km bituminousPorts: DzaoudziCivil air: no major transport aircraftAirports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 1,220-2,439 mTelecommunications: small system administered by French Department of Posts and Telecommunications; includes radio relay and high-frequency radio communications for links to Comoros and international communications; 450 telephones; broadcast stations - 1 AM, no FM, no TV

Long-form name: noneType: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the US Navy, under command of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Hawaii and managed cooperatively by the US Navy and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System; legislation before Congress in 1990 proposed inclusion of territory within the State of HawaiiCapital: none; administered from Washington, DCDiplomatic representation: none (territory of the US)Flag: the US flag is used

:Midway Islands Economy

Overview: The economy is based on providing support services for US naval operations located on the islands. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.Electricity: supplied by US Military

Overview: Moldova, the next-to-smallest of the former Soviet republics in area, is the most densely inhabited. Moldova has a little more than 1% of the population, labor force, capital stock, and output of the former Soviet Union. Living standards have been below average for the European USSR. The country enjoys a favorable climate, and economic development has been primarily based on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Industry accounts for 20% of the labor force, whereas agriculture employs more than one-third. Moldova has no major mineral resources and has depended on the former Soviet republics for coal, oil, gas, steel, most electronic equipment, machine tools, and major consumer durables such as automobiles. Its industrial and agricultural products, in turn, have been exported to the other former Soviet republics. Moldova has freed prices on most goods and has legalized private ownership of property, including agricultural land. Moldova's economic prospects are dimmed by the difficulties of moving toward a market economy and the political problems of redefining ties to the other former Soviet republics and Romania.GDP: NA; per capita NA; real growth rate -12% (1991)Inflation rate (consumer prices): 97% (1991)Unemployment rate: NA%Budget: revenues $NA million; expenditures $NA million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1992)Exports: $400 million rubles (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: foodstuffs, wine, tobacco, textiles and footwear, machinery, chemicals (1991) partners: NAImports: $1.9 billion rubles (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: oil, gas, coal, steel machinery, foodstuffs, automobiles, and other consumer durables partners: NAExternal debt: $650 million (1991 est.)Industrial production: growth rate -7% (1991)Electricity: 3,000,000 kW capacity; 13,000 million kWh produced, 2,806 kWh per capita (1991)Industries: key products (with share of total former Soviet output in parentheses where known): agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers (2.7%), washing machines (5.0%), hosiery (2.0%), refined sugar (3.1%), vegetable oil (3.7%), canned food (8.6%), shoes, textilesAgriculture: Moldova's principal economic activity; products (shown in share of total output of the former Soviet republics): Grain (1.6%), sugar beets (2.6%), sunflower seed (4.4%), vegetables (4.4%), fruits and berries (9.7%), grapes (20.1%), meat (1.7%), milk (1.4%), and eggs (1.4%)Illicit drugs: transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

:Moldova Economy

Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1991), $NA, Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1991), $NA millionCurrency: as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currencyFiscal year: calendar year

Long-form name: Principality of MonacoType: constitutional monarchyCapital: MonacoAdministrative divisions: 4 quarters (quartiers, singular - quartier); Fontvieille, La Condamine, Monaco-Ville, Monte-CarloIndependence: 1419, rule by the House of GrimaldiConstitution: 17 December 1962Legal system: based on French law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdictionNational holiday: National Day, 19 NovemberExecutive branch: prince, minister of state, Council of Government (cabinet)Legislative branch: National Council (Conseil National)Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal (Tribunal Supreme)Leaders: Chief of State: Prince RAINIER III (since November 1949); Heir Apparent Prince ALBERT Alexandre Louis Pierre (born 14 March 1958) Head of Government: Minister of State Jean AUSSEIL (since 16 September 1985)Political parties and leaders: National and Democratic Union (UND), Democratic Union Movement (MUD), Monaco Action, Monegasque Socialist Party (PSM)Suffrage: universal adult at age 25Elections: National Council: last held on 24 January 1988 (next to be held 24 January 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (18 total) UND 18Member of: ACCT, CSCE, IAEA, ICAO, IMF (observer), IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPODiplomatic representation: Monaco maintains honorary consulates general in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and honorary consulates in Dallas, Honolulu, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, and Washington US: no mission in Monaco, but the US Consul General in Marseille, France, is accredited to Monaco; Consul General R. Susan WOOD; Consulate General at 12 Boulevard Paul Peytral, 13286 Marseille Cedex (mailing address APO AE 09777); telephone [33] (91) 549-200Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; similar to the flag of Indonesia which is longer and the flag of Poland which is white (top) and red

:Monaco Economy

Overview: Monaco, situated on the French Mediterranean coast, is a popular resort, attracting tourists to its casino and pleasant climate. The Principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, nonpolluting industries. The state has no income tax and low business taxes and thrives as a tax haven both for individuals who have established residence and for foreign companies that have set up businesses and offices. About 50% of Monaco's annual revenue comes from value-added taxes on hotels, banks, and the industrial sector; about 25% of revenue comes from tourism. Living standards are high, that is, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan suburbs.GDP: exchange rate conversion - $475 million, per capita $16,000; real growth rate NA% (1991 est.)Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%Unemployment rate: full employment (1989)Budget: revenues $424 million; expenditures $376 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991)Exports: $NA; full customs integration with France, which collects and rebates Monacan trade duties; also participates in EC market system through customs union with FranceImports: $NA; full customs integration with France, which collects and rebates Monacan trade duties; also participates in EC market system through customs union with FranceExternal debt: $NAIndustrial production: growth rate NA%Electricity: 10,000 kW standby capacity (1991); power supplied by France IndusAgriculture: NAEconomic aid: NACurrency: French franc (plural - francs); 1 French franc (F) = 100 centimesExchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1 - 5.3801 (January 1992), 5.6421 (1991), 5.4453 (1990), 6.3801 (1989), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987)Fiscal year: calendar year

Overview: Mongolia's severe climate, scattered population, and wide expanses of unproductive land have constrained economic development. Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and the breeding of livestock - Mongolia has the highest number of livestock per person in the world. In recent years extensive mineral resources have been developed with Soviet support. The mining and processing of coal, copper, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Timber and fishing are also important sectors. In 1991-92 Mongolian leadership is